Bitcoin (BITCOMP) has reached above $21,000 for the first time since early September, as the break in correlation with tech stocks grew last week.

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The cryptoasset began the week under $20,500, briefly falling below $20,000 on Wednesday, before rallying above $21,000 over the weekend. Bitcoin is now trading back just below $20,500. 

Ether meanwhile has consolidated a move above $1,500 made in late October. The cryptoasset held above the resistance level for most of the week last week, only falling below briefly on Wednesday. Like bitcoin it rallied over the weekend, reaching above $1,625. It is currently back in a trading range just above $1,500. 

JPMorgan makes first DeFi trade

Major investment bank JPMorgan (JPM) has announced its first successful cross-border DeFi trade, made on a public blockchain. The trade was made via a pilot program of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) which is exploring the possibilities of DeFi in the wider financial ecosystem.

The trade is a landmark moment for DeFi. Involving such large mainstream institutions is no small feat and highlights the potential applicability across the finance sector. The transaction was made on Ethereum layer-2 network Polygon with a modified version of Aave’s smart contract protocols. The trade involved tokenized Singapore dollars and Japanese yen, with simulated buying and selling of tokenized government bonds.

While much of the market has been riven by price volatility distractions, this is the kind of quiet but enormously influential activity going on in the background. Major institutions have not held up their crypto and DeFi plans despite the volatility - in some cases they have gone further as a result, with price valuations at more attractive levels. 

New Ethereum roadmap milestone unveiled

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has unveiled ‘The Scourge’ - a new milestone on the Ethereum development roadmap. Having recently completed The Merge, the roadmap now consists of: The Surge, The Scourge, The Verge, The Purge and The Splurge.

As for the new The Scourge addition - Buterin says it is all about bringing decentralization back to the platform. An issue developed on the platform whereby miners who validate transactions on the network frontran other users' transactions in order to make money duplicating winning deals. 

This was stopped by The Merge but this has led to criticism that the network has become too centralized as a result. While details of specific measures of The Scourge are scant, what’s clear is that the development leads are working to treat criticism against the network and improve some of the core principles. 

Santander to limit crypto transactions

Major UK retail bank Santander (SAN) has said it plans to place limits on customer transactions to crypto platforms. The news is a disappointing development, but the thrust of it to protect customers against fraud is well-meaning. 

A reaction from a bank to the crypto sector such as this is not hugely surprising. While good progress is now being made on cryptoasset regulation in the UK, banks are very much still on their own when it comes to consumer protection in the space. 

From a risk management perspective, it may be that Santander has simply decided it's easier to limit transactions entirely rather than attempt to work with the sector. This will be resolved by regulations because it will create a framework that all parties can function within. Notably it hasn’t banned crypto transactions, it has set financial limits, a more measured response. 

The Government really should get its skates on with regard to the Financial Services and Markets Bill to give crypto a codified place within the wider financial system in the UK.

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